"… Yesterday, the United Nations held a temporary meeting in New York and determined an emergency plan to deal with the Martian bacteria invasion. A research team composed of researchers from many countries will be stationed at the Moon Palace space station within a week to conduct research on the bacteria.
"At the same time, according to the International Health Organization's research decision, the bacteria will be officially named X-0172.
"China News, reporting for you."
After the report on the Martian bacteria ended, the news continued to play on the TV.
Lu Zhou sat at the dining table and quietly enjoyed his breakfast. He looked at the calendar on his phone and spoke to himself.
"87 days left."
Time is of the essence …
Lu Zhou picked up the remote control and turned off the TV. He took out a tissue and wiped his mouth. He then stood up from the dining table.
"Xiao Ai, I'll have to trouble you to clean up the dishes."
A quad-rotor drone with a small TV dangling from it flew over from the kitchen.
[Okay, Master, leave it to me! (• • • • • • • •)]
After Xiao Ai did the dishes, Lu Zhou put on a jacket and called Wang Peng.
Soon after, a black car with a red flag stopped outside the mansion and took him to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Strictly speaking, the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study wasn't strong in the field of biological research.
Especially when it came to astrobiology, which was the most unpopular branch of astrobiology. Forget about the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, there weren't many people in the top five national universities in China who studied astrobiology.
However, sometimes, when it came to cutting-edge research, it didn't necessarily have to be done by professionals. After all, the more cutting-edge things were, even if they were professionals, they would at most have more experience. Everyone's starting line was actually about the same.
So far, the only person in the field of microbiology at the Institute for Advanced Study was Professor Liu Zuobing, who was in charge of the "frozen dormancy" project.
Even though his main research direction was cryobiology, he often studied cell samples collected in extreme environments. In a sense, he was more knowledgeable about the X-0172 bacteria.
After all, the X-0172 bacteria was also collected from extreme environments …
After getting out of the car, Lu Zhou went straight to the Biology Research Institute building.
When he arrived at the laboratory, Professor Liu Zuobing and several of his students were busy observing and recording something in front of an electron microscope.
Lu Zhou didn't interrupt their research. Instead, he quietly waited for them to finish their work. He then walked up to Professor Liu and spoke.
"Has the sample arrived?"
"It's already here." Professor Liu Zuobing pointed to the slide specimen on the microscope and said jokingly, "I bet this is probably the most expensive sh * t in the world."
Lu Zhou also joked.
"… and probably the most dangerous in the world."
Professor Liu Zuobing smiled and waved his hand. "There's no need to worry. The specimens sent to Earth have been inactivated of the highest level. As long as the safety manual is strictly followed, there won't be any problems."
Although he was a little sensitive to the word "basic", Lu Zhou still believed in Professor Liu's skills. He would not make such a low-level mistake.
After pausing for a second, Lu Zhou asked the question he was most concerned about.
"Is there any progress in the research?"
"There is some progress." Professor Liu Zuobing pushed his glasses up and said, "According to the latest research results published by Professor Leslie and Professor Zhao Shuxuan, we can currently confirm that the symptoms of lethargy in the Ares program colonists are caused by the amino acid derivatives secreted by the X-0172 bacteria during the formation of spores."
"Amino acid derivatives?" Lu Zhou frowned and asked, "Is the problem serious?"
"Not very serious. This amino acid derivative is very interesting. Not only does it not harm the host, but it even … is beneficial to the host."
Lu Zhou: "… Beneficial? Can you explain it to me in detail? "
"Active dormancy." Professor Liu suddenly said something unexpected to Lu Zhou. He then said, "Let's say that Mars once had an atmosphere, a magnetic field, and even a rich ecosystem. When Mars became less habitable due to severe geological changes or other external factors, the pheromone released by the bacteria during the production of spores may help the host survive through periods of material scarcity, just like hibernation."
Helping the host survive through periods of extreme weather conditions was like helping the host survive, but in fact, it was also the bacteria's way of saving itself. Therefore, compared to a parasitic relationship, the bacteria and the host were more like a symbiotic relationship.
Professor Liu Zuobing paused for a few seconds. He looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.
"So far, we have not found any other effects on the health of the host other than lethargy. We have reason to believe that the secretion of the pheromone belongs to an active defense mechanism of the bacteria. It helps the host actively dormant by reducing metabolism and active dormancy. In this dormant state, the host's tolerance to extreme environments will be greatly improved. At the same time, it only needs to consume a small amount of energy to ensure the minimum level of life. "
Lu Zhou thought for a moment and said, "But what about the mechanism of releasing the pheromone?"
"That's the problem. We haven't fully figured out the mechanism of its production." Professor Liu Zuobing sighed and said, "There are two guesses. One is that when the host itself has an immune response to the foreign bacteria, the bacteria will be forced to produce spores for self-protection under the attack of the autoantibodies. At the same time, the active dormancy pheromone will be released.
"The other possibility is that under the stimulation of certain external physical conditions, the bacteria will judge that the host is in an extremely harsh environment and will actively release spores and dormancy pheromone to protect the host."
Although lethargy was not a fatal symptom, it would still be quite a headache for a normal person if they dozed off all day long.
So far, one of the three colonists had already discovered a similar situation, which meant that the probability was at least one in three.
If one-third of the people on Earth doubled their daily sleep time, it was hard to say what kind of impact it would have on modern society.
Lu Zhou thought for a second and said, "Then which possibility do you prefer?"
Professor Liu Zuobing: "I prefer the first one."
Lu Zhou immediately said, "In other words, the colonist with clinical symptoms of lethargy may have antibodies to the X-0172 bacteria?"
Professor Liu Zuobing nodded and spoke cautiously.
"It's hard to say, but I think this is the case!"
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